Portable floor

ABSTRACT

A PORTABLE FLOOR USABLE AS A DANCE FLOOR MADE OF A PLURALITY OF PLASTIC, ELONGATED SLATS ASSEMBLED IN LENGTHWISE JUXTAPOSITIONED RELATIONSHIP BY A TONGUE-AND-GROOVE JOINT OR A BALL-AND-GROOVE JOINT BETWEEN SLATS.

Oct. 12, 1971 w. LOEBNER 3,611,655

PORTABLE FLOOR Filed Nov. 10. 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 12, 1971 w,LQEBNER 3,611,655

PORTABLE FLOOR Filed Nov. 10, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet a y I! II II UnitedStates Pate 3,611,655 PORTABLE FLUOR William Loebner, 220 W. 98th St,New York, N.Y. 10025 Filed Nov. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 875,023 Int. Cl. E04f15/02, 15/16 US. Cl. 52-588 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention relates to portable floors and to assemblies of said portablefloors which assemblies constitute larger portable floors.

Frequently, a floor surface is not suitable for the purpose desired.Thus, for example, a floor surface may not be suitable for dancingbecause it is carpeted or because it is susceptible to scufiing.Similarly, when camping, the floor surface of a tent which normallywould be the bare ground is not found desirable. Many other occasionsmay arise where it is desired to create a new floor surface. Thus, theneed arises for portable floors.

It is the object of the invention to provide portable floors, which may,if desired, be assembled in different sizes and which portable floorsmay be placed into compact configuration for storage or transportation.

, The invention will now be described by reference to the drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portable floor according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a section of the portable floor of FIG. 1 taken through plane2--2;

FIG. 3 is another section of the portable floor of FIG. 1 taken throughplane 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the floor taken on the same plane as inFIG. 3 but showing the portable fioor rolled on a drum;

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 illustrate a mode of portable floor assembly accordingto the invention, FIG. 5 showing the portable floor before assembly andFIG. 6 after assembly; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section view of another embodiment of a portablefloor according to the invention.

FIG. 1 will now be described in detail. A portable floor is shownconstituting an assembly of portable floor A with portable floor B. Eachof portable floors A and B consists essentially of a set of slats 10 and10 respectively. The slats are arranged along side each other with theirlongitudinal edges in contact. Broken lines 11a and 11b indicate thelongitudinal edges of adhesive strip 11 (not shown in FIG. 1), brokenlines 12a and 1211 indicate the longitudinal edges of adhesive strip 12(not shown in FIG. 1), broken lines 13a and 13b indicate thelongitudinal edges of adhesive strip 13 (not shown in FIG. 1) and brokenlines 14a and 14b indicate the longitudinal edges of adhesive strip 14(not shown in FIG. 1). The adhesive strips do not appear in FIG. 1because they extend along the underside of the slats. Parting line 15defines the boundary between floor A and floor B. Binder means 16 and 17extend along the lateral edges of the slats. Screws 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,23, 24 and 25, by means of which binder means 16 and 17 are fastened tothe slats are located at intervals in appropriate screws holes alongbinder means 16 and 17. The details of the construction of the bindermeans and fastening thereof to the slats will be described withreference to FIG. 2. Some or all of the slats may 3,611,655 PatentedUct. 12, 1971 have a channel running through them. Thus, as shown indetail in the upper portion of FIG. 1, channel 26 runs through thelength of the slat and is defined by side Walls 30 and 31 of the slat.Member 27, which is in the configuration of a spring through most of itslength and has hooks 27a and 27b at its ends extends through the lengthof channel 26. It will be appreciated that channel 26 actually consistsof two channels in registry with one another, specifically a channel ina slat of floor A in registry with a channel in a slat of floor B.Channel 26 is open at its ends and thereby are defined end openings 26aand 26b. Furthermore, the side walls 16' and 17 of binder means 16 and17 respectively, each contain an opening in rigistry with end openings26a and 26b respectively. Hooks 27a and 2717 at the ends of springmember 27 extend through the opening in side wall 16' and the opening inside wall 17' respectively and there are hooked about clips 28 and 29respectively which are braced against side walls 16 and 17'respectively. The tension in spring member 27 is brought to bearinwardly against side walls 16' and 17 by means of clips 28 and 29 andholds floors A and B together at parting line 15 as shown in FIG. 1 Thisconstruction may be repeated several times along the length of portablefloors A and B as shown in FIG. 1, thereby providing a number of placesat which floors A and B are fastened together.

FIG. 2 will now be described in detail. In FIG. 2, the construction ofbinder means 16 and 17 can best be appreciated. Binder means 16 and 17have side walls 16 and 17' respectively, top walls 16" and 17"respectively and bottom walls 16" and 17" respectively. Inserted at eachend of channel 26 are anchor blocks 16a and 17a. Top walls 16" and 17 ofbinder means 16 and 17 respectively, each are provided with a holetherethrough in which screws 18 and 19 respectively fit. In registrywith these holes are provided holes in anchor blocks 16a and 17a. Thus,the screws extend through the hole in the top wall of the binder meansand into the hole in the anchor block whereby the binder means top walland anchor block are all screwed together. The anchor block serves toprovide a stronger base for the screw than would be provided by the topwall of the binder means and wall of the slat alone. To the bottom ofthe slats are adhered adhesive strips 11, 12, 13 and 1 4.

FIG. 3 will now be described in detail. FIG. 3 shows the manner in whichthe slats are joined together at their longitudinal edges. The slats areessentially rectangular in cross-section, having side walls 30 and 31,top wall 32 and bottom wall 33. Side wall 31 has a tongue extension 35which mates with the curvature of side wall 30, which curvature defines'groove 34 along the length of the slat. In cross-section, each junctureof the slats thus defined resembles a ball and socket joint and in fact,functions in this manner. Bottom wall 33 is set in somewhat so thatspace 36 is provided between slats. Space 36 permits the slats to rotateabout the axis defined by the longitudinal dimension of tongue extension35 and in this manner in effect a ball and socket joint is providedbetween each pair of slats.

In FIG. 4, the utility of the tongue extension feature is illustrated.In FIG. 4 the floor is shown in rolled configuration on drum 37. This isparticularly convenient for storage or for transportation of theportable floor.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another manner of fastening together portable floorsA and B. The broken lines indicate grooves in the slats like groove 34in FIG. 3. Slot 10a has tongue extension 35a, slat 10b has groove 34b,slat has groove 34c and tongue extension 35c, slat 10d has groove 34dand salt 10e has groove 342. Though not all the tongue extensions andgrooves are thus indicated, it is to be understood that the slats eachhave a tongue extension and a groove as indicated in FIG. 3 and arejoined as indicated in FIG. 3. Slat 100 extends beyond its neighboringslats and slat 102 is displaced inwards of its neighboring slat, thuscreating a space into which slat c fits as indicated in FIG. 6. In thismanner, floors A and B are fastened together.

It will be appreciated that strips '11, 12, 13 and 14 adhered to thebottom of the slats and binder means 16 and 17 each function to keep theslats from sliding longitudinally with respect to one another. Thus, thebinder means or strips may be used alone rather than jointly. Similarly,any other equivalent means which restrain the slats from slidinglongitudinally with respect to one another may be used. Also, ratherthan using either of the two modes illustrated for fastening theportable floors together, an adhesive strip, like strips 11, 12, 13 and14, may be placed so as to extend laterally across parting line and thusbind floors A and .B together as well as restraining the slats thereoffrom sliding longitudinally with respect to one another.

Other alternatives may be obvious to those skilled in the art and it isintended that the invention not be construed as being limited to theforegoing exemplary description but that all obvious equivalents bedeemed to be within the scope of the appended claims. Thus, the top wallof the scope of the appended claims. Thus, the top wall of of the slatsis curved in order to impart additional strength thereto and also inorder that the main weight of one walking on the floor be exerted on thecentral portion of the top wall and not be exerted in the area of thetonguelike extension mating with the groove, thus protecting the jointsbetween the slats from excessive wear; however, changes in thisconfiguration may be made without departing from the general spirit ofthe invention.

A preferred embodiment of a portable floor according to the invention isillustrated in FIG. 7 in which a plurality of longitudinally extending,parallel, hollow slats 50 each has four walls 51-54 joined to a top wall55. A lower wall 57 joins only three of the vertical walls. An outermostwall 51 has a ball 58. The other outermost wall has a longitudinalgroove 60 defined by a curved portion of the lower wall 57 so that nextadjacent strips or slats 50' are joined by a ball-and-groove joint.

The ba'll-and-groove joint allows the slats to be rolled when assembledinto a portable floor. Moreover, the joint is constructed so that theassembly of the slats in a floor is by positioning the ball of a slatover the groove of another slat to which it is to be assembled andsnapping them together. There is no need of sliding the slatslongitudinally relative to each other, for assembly and disassembly, asin the other joints in assembling the floor.

The individual slats are made of a suitable plastic such as PVC and aremade of a suitable color. A flexible fabric sheet 65 may be provided onthe assembled slats bonded to the lower walls thereof to hold theassembly together. This fabric is readily cut with a sharp edge from theunderside of the slats for separating a given member of slats from aroll, when selecting a given width of flooring from a number ofassembled slats. The fabric in no way impedes rolling up the portableflooring.

While preferred embodiments of the portable floor according to theinvention have been shown and described,

it will be understood that many modifiactions and changes can be madewithin the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A portable dance floor comprising, a set of elongated hollow slatshaving a generally rectangular crosssection disposed assembled inlengthwise juxtaposition, each slat comprising a top wall and sidewalls, each slat having means defining a ball interiorly of said hollowslat and along one edge of a side Wall edge remote from said top wall,and means defining a groove at an opposite side wall edge remote fromsaid top wall of the slat, said groove being disposed exteriorly of saidhollow slat and open at the top and along the full length thereof andthe means defining the groove comprising a flexible curved portionextending the full length of the slat configured in crosssection todefine an opening of lesser width than the crosssection of said ball andreleasably hold a ball of a next adjacent slat, each ball being receivedin a groove of a next adajcent slat defining pivotal ball-and-groovejoints between next adjacent slats, whereby the slats can be assembledby placing the ball of a slat on said opening of a groove of a nextadjacent slat and snapping the ball of said slat thereinto, and theassembled slats are rollable into a roll and assembled and disassembledWithout moving the slats relative to each other axially.

2. A portable dance floor according to claim 1, including a flexiblefabric bonded to the underside of the assembled slats.

3. A portable dance floor according to claim 1, in which each of saidslats comprises walls intermediate the side walls, and a lower wallintermediate the side walls and not extending to one outermost sidewall, said means defining said ball comprising an extension of said oneside wall, and the other outermost wall having said curved portionexternally thereof and integral therewith defining said groove extendingalong said other side wall externally thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,351,546 8/1920 Warmoth 94-131,737,621 12/1929 Taylor 52-627 1,178,756 4/1916 Scott 94-4 1,829,36610/1931 Mittleburg 52-593 2,253,489 8/1941 Smith 52-594 3,102,367 9/1963Pedersen 52-245 3,121,977 2/1964 Bersudsky 52-417 3,377,931 4/1968Hilton 94-13 3,386,221 6/1968 Giovannucci 52-586 FOREIGN PATENTS1,066,479 1954 France 52-245 510,833 1955 Italy 52-627 291,256 1928Great Britain 52-388 54,838 1935 Norway 52-388 77,011 1950 Norway 52-245JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52-3 88, 594; -133

